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Taking Shape - South Australia's First Timber Apartment Building

Date:14-Oct-16Author: David Rowlinson

Verde, Kent Town, SA

South Australia’s trendy city fringe suburb of Kent Town will soon be home to the state’s first timber apartment building. The building, known as Verde, has slowly started to take shape as the engineered timber structure is put into place.

While it is set to become the first timber apartment building in the state, Verde will also become only the second Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) multi-level apartment building to be constructed in Australia.

Last month, more than 620 tonnes of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) panels arrived from Austria into Port Adelaide, with 32 semi-trailer loads needed to transport the timber to site in Kent Town. The CLT is being used for all the load bearing walls, floors and ceilings of the residential apartments.

Verde is a joint venture between South Australian family owned developer FA Mamac Pty Ltd and building company Morgan and Hansen. Morgan and Hansen Managing Director Andrew Morgan said CLT had been chosen for Verde as much for the lifestyle benefits as the construction benefits.

“Buyers have been quick to embrace the technology with 85 per cent of the apartments sold. As well as being extremely strong and solid, because timber is natural it helps to create a gentler and cosier living environment.

“It also has significant environmental benefits and significantly lowers heating and cooling costs. With projects like Verde being successfully built and sold, it might inspire other developers to take a closer look at CLT, with the potential for a manufacturing plant to be established in South Australia in the future, ” he said.

The CLT will take around 10 weeks to be assembled to create the structure for the apartments, and the building is due for completion in May/June 2017.